allendalepharm Page 10
Page 10
Several crew members around him echoed his sentiments, their tone full of disdain.
Bucky's face flushed bright red, even redder than his red nose. He jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on, shrieking, "What do you know! This is valuable! It can grant immense power! You blind bastards!"
He became more and more agitated as he spoke. In order to prove his "determination," or perhaps just to save face, he suddenly raised the fruit, opened his mouth wide, and pretended to bite it, but kept his eyes tightly closed, with a tragic expression of "a brave man cutting off his own arm."
"I dare to eat it right in front of you!"
"Hey! Buggy! Stop!" Shanks was startled and rushed over, grabbing Buggy's arm anxiously. "They're right! It's too dangerous not being able to swim! It's not worth it for a Devil Fruit with some unknown power!"
He meant well and wanted to stop his friend from doing something foolish.
Bucky was already furious, and Shanks's actions only made him feel more humiliated. Enraged, he struggled, yelling, "Let go! Shanks! You bastard! I'm going to eat you anyway!"
As the two struggled, Buggy flailed his arms wildly, and by sheer coincidence, the Devil Fruit he was holding ended up in his own mouth the instant he opened his mouth to roar!
"Well--!!!"
Bucky's eyes widened instantly, and his pupils contracted.
An indescribable, extremely disgusting smell, as if mixed with excrement, urine, and rotten matter, suddenly exploded in his mouth! It shot straight to the top of his head!
His throat spasmed uncontrollably, making a gurgling sound.
The fruit wasn't even chewed much before it just... slid down.
The world is quiet.
Bucky remained frozen in place with his mouth agape, his face turning from red to green, then from green to white.
Shanks was also stunned, forgetting to let go of Bucky's arm.
The crew members watching the spectacle were frozen in place.
"vomit--!!!"
Bucky bent over abruptly and began to gag violently, tears and snot streaming down his face, trying to vomit up the damn thing, but to no avail.
"Water...water..." he groaned in pain, stumbling toward the ship's side, trying to rinse his mouth with seawater.
Then, tragedy happened.
Because of nausea and panic, he slipped and lost his balance, plunging headfirst into the sea under the horrified gazes of the crowd!
Shanks was the first to react, screaming in terror.
Instead of thrashing about as usual, Baki sank straight down like a stone! His hands stretched upwards in vain, his mouth opened and closed, but not a single bubble came out, and his face quickly turned purple.
The curse of the Devil Fruit has taken effect!
"Quick! Save people!"
"Damn it! This idiot actually ate it!"
"Pull him out!"
After a brief moment of shock, the crew cursed and swore, but acted swiftly. Several strong swimmers immediately jumped into the sea and, with a flurry of activity, pulled Bucky, whose eyes had rolled back and who was beginning to swallow seawater, back onto the deck like a dead fish.
Bucky lay sprawled on the deck, soaking wet, his belly swollen, unconsciously vomiting seawater, looking utterly miserable.
Shanks knelt beside him, patting his back forcefully, his face a mixture of guilt and anxiety: "Buggy! Bucky, are you alright? It's all my fault... I shouldn't have pulled you..."
There was silence all around.
Everyone stared at Bucky with complex expressions. There was lingering fear, speechlessness, and a hint of... indescribable absurdity.
Liu Jiu stood on the periphery of the crowd, watching the farce unfold.
His gaze fell on Bucky's wet skin, which had a strange, eerie sheen.
Therefore, the Chop-Chop Devil Fruit...
Is that how you ate it?
After vomiting out all the seawater in his stomach and then dry heaving for a long time until only bile remained, he finally caught his breath.
A group of people surrounded him on the deck, their eyes filled with various expressions.
Bucky sat up, his face still deathly pale. He looked down at his hands, then touched his face, as if trying to confirm that he was still alive, and... if anything was wrong.
"How are you feeling, Bucky?" Shanks asked cautiously.
Bucky ignored him.
He tried moving his fingers.
He tried raising his arm again.
He breathed a sigh of relief, but then anger surged up, and he pointed at Shanks's nose, about to yell, "Shanks, you bastard..."
Before he could even utter the word "account," he waved his arms a little too much in his excitement.
Then, something strange happened.
His right forearm suddenly snapped off at the elbow joint without warning!
It floated lightly in mid-air!
It was still connected to the severed arm, but the middle was hollow! You could see that the cut was perfectly smooth, without blood or bone, only a kind of... transparent texture similar to spatial distortion.
His arm swung twice in the air as he waved it.
Bucky: "..."
Shanks: "..."
All the onlookers on the crew: "..."
Bucky's eyes slowly moved downwards, staring blankly at his lonely forearm, which was suspended in the air.
"ah--!!!!!!!"
A piercing, distorted scream shattered the tranquility of the sea.
Bucky recoiled as if he'd seen a ghost, scrambling back and crawling on all fours to get away from the eerie arm. The arm moved with him, remaining connected.
"Ghost! Ghost! My hand! What happened to my hand?!" He was incoherent, his face covered in snot and tears again, even more terrified than when he fell into the sea.
He frantically swung his arm, trying to "put" the severed arm back in, but the arm just swayed back and forth without any reaction.
He tried to grab it with his left hand, but the moment his left hand touched the broken part of his right arm, it snapped off from his wrist!
Both forearms were suspended in the air, like two bizarre ornaments.
"Ahhh! No! Get away! Stay away from me!" Bucky completely broke down, rolling around on the deck and howling, his two floating arms flying up and down with him.
After recovering from their initial shock, one of the crew members couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Immediately afterward, as if a fuse had been lit, bursts of laughter erupted, almost overturning the deck.
"Hahahaha! Bucky! What kind of weird power is that?!"
"My hand...my hand flew away! Hahahaha!"
"Tear apart? What kind of useless ability is that! It's hilarious!"
"Are you planning to use your hands to scratch people when you fight from now on? Hahaha!"
Taunts and laughter rained down on Bucky like hail.
He was filled with shame, anger, and fear, and he cried even harder, trying to bury his face in his hands. But then his head snapped off his neck and floated up into the air!
Only a headless body remained, struggling futilely on the deck, making the scene even more bizarre and... hilarious.
Shanks wanted to help Bucky up, but didn't know where to start. He stood there helplessly, then burst into laughter.
Just then, Roger came out of the cabin, seemingly awakened by the commotion outside.
He yawned, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the chaotic scene on the deck—a headless body was thrashing about, a head was floating in the air crying loudly, and two arms were flying around like headless flies.
Roger paused for a moment.
He then burst into laughter that was louder and more hearty than all the crew members combined.
"Kuralalalalalala!!!!!"
He laughed so hard he was doubled over, tears streaming down his face, pointing at Bucky: "Folded to pieces? Hahahaha! Bucky! You little brat... Hahahaha! From now on you're the only landlubber on the ship! A landlubber who can split up! Hahahahaha!"
His laughter was so infectious that it made the crew members, who were already laughing so hard they were doubled over with laughter.
Bucky's head, suspended in mid-air, heard Roger's laughter and the words "landlubber," and he cried even louder, filled with despair and grievance.
Rayleigh stood behind Roger, pushed up his glasses, watched the farce unfold, shook his head helplessly, but couldn't help but let a very faint smile appear at the corner of his mouth.
Liu Jiu leaned against the mast in the distance, watching the crowd laughing wildly, and in the middle of them, Bucky was crying miserably, his body parts scattered all over the ground.
He watched for a while.
Then he lowered his head and continued to wipe the long sword he had used after yesterday's battle.
The blade reflected the sunlight, gleaming with a cold luster.
Chapter 10 Dangerous Seas
Days passed by, like seawater that was plowed open at the stern of a ship and then quickly closed again.
Bucky is still struggling with his new ability. Most of the time, he tries to control his body parts and pretend nothing is happening. But occasionally, when he gets emotional or sleepy, a part of his body will suddenly detach with a "snap," eliciting a burst of laughter and the new nickname "Fragmented."
He was so angry he jumped up and down, his red nose turned even redder, but there was nothing he could do.
Shanks adapted well, still full of energy every day, climbing the mast, pestering Rayleigh with questions, or bickering with Buggy, as if he wasn't the one who almost killed his friend that day.
Liu Jiu continued to clean his deck, tidy his ropes, eat, and sleep. Occasionally, during battle, he would mimic Roger or Rayleigh's movements, adjusting the angle at which he swung his sword. It was a very subtle change, and no one noticed.
The weather has been nice.
Until one afternoon, the sky darkened without warning.
It wasn't dark clouds, but a deeper, thicker gloom, as if the light had been swallowed up by something. The wind had stopped, and the sea was as smooth as a giant sheet of black glass, without a single ripple.
Absolute silence.
Even the sound of the waves disappeared.
An invisible, unsettling pressure, as if it were a tangible force, slowly descended and enveloped the entire ship. The air became heavy, making it difficult to breathe.
The crew members who had been laughing and joking on deck gradually quieted down, their smiles freezing in place, replaced by an instinctive fear and unease. Some instinctively gripped their weapons, while others looked up at the eerie sky, their throats bobbing.